1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a management system for data processing systems and more particularly to a management system service suite for license utilization with data processing systems.
2. Background
Software applications typically require a user to possess a software license to use the given application. A software license is a contract governing the usage or redistribution of software. These software licenses are associated with an agreement of use that restricts the user to a certain type of use for the given application.
With proprietary software, a software license generally grants the holder to use one or more copies of the software application. The ownership of the software remains with the software publisher, and only use of the software according to the terms of the license is permitted by an end-user.
Software licenses can be costly, limiting the number of licenses for a particular type of software application that a given business or company may be able to afford. As such, software applications are often limited to a certain number of users or certain number of systems in keeping with the number of licenses purchased by the end-user from the software publisher.
Different business units or project groups may need to utilize software applications at different times and with varying degrees of use. Some units or groups may require less use of a given application than other units or groups. The groups or units who use the given application for a greater period of time should bear a greater portion of the cost for the license. However, most businesses do not have a way to track or manage this usage information.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that addresses one or more of the issues discussed above.